Defense on the Offense in Corpus Christi Area
Published Mar 21, 2007
The Coastal Bend is home to two Naval Air Stations and is one of the largest employers in the region.
Corpus Christi may be best known for its refineries, but it’s also very much a military town.
One clue is the USS Lexington, a 33,000-ton aircraft carrier berthed in Corpus Christi Bay, which hints at the city’s long history of military service.
The region is home to two Naval Air Stations, one in Corpus Christi and one in Kingsville. Closest and largest is Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, the “University of the Air,” which sits on the bay 10 miles southeast of downtown Corpus Christi, and is almost completely surrounded by water.
The same geographic features and favorable climate that make the Coastal Bend a tourist destination also make it a favorable location for pilot training, says Larry Demieville, planner at WorkSource of the Coastal Bend. “We have good flying weather year-round,” Demieville says.
The NAS Corpus Christi’s primary function has been pilot training since 1940, when it was founded to train flyers for an anticipated Second World War. NAS’ first training class took flight May 5, 1941, and after the Pearl Harbor bombing seven months later, the Corpus Christi NAS became the largest pilot-training facility in the world.
By the end of World War II, more than 35,000 men had been trained as flyers, navigators, aerologists, gunners and radio operators, including a young cadet named George Herbert Walker Bush, who graduated in 1942 and would go on to become the Commander in Chief.
Today’s training program lasts considerably longer – about 18 months – because of the technical complexities of modern aircraft and focuses on basic flight maneuvering and traffic patterns to support some 400,000 operations per year in all branches of the Armed Forces.
About 400 aviators complete the program at Truax Field each year through Training Air Wing Four. It also is home to a squadron of Sea Dragon helicopters that sweep the seas for mines.
NAS Corpus Christi is one of the largest employers in the region and has a significant impact on the economy. It provides many jobs for civilians, mostly in aircraft maintenance, that generally pay better wages than the private sector, Demieville says.
About 9,000 people total are employed at the Naval Air Station, including 5,800 civilians and civilian contractors and 3,200 military personnel, according to the Department of Defense.
Also located at the NAS is the Corpus Christi Army Depot, the Army’s largest full-service helicopter repair, overhaul and maintenance center. It’s the largest industrial employer in South Texas, with 3,405 civilian employees in fiscal year 2005 and a $248 million payroll that accounts for a quarter of its $1.1 billion budget.
The Army Depot spent nearly $40 million in procurements in 2003, up from $24 million in 1997, with contracts ranging from less than $25,000 to more than $1 million.
The depot also serves as a training base for active duty Army, National Guard, Reserve and foreign personnel, and provides worldwide on-site aviation maintenance service.
“The military is still a significant employer here and a significant site of air training for all the Armed Forces,” Demieville says. “It’s quite evident here that this is a military town.”
Story by Jeannie W. Naujeck
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